So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu....

Being in full-time ministry requires sacrifice. And the most difficult part is often our family. We had a great visit with Mom and Dad and our friend Anne - and last night after they said good-bye to the kids (Dad already left for England, Mom and Anne are off to Ravencrest for a few days), Jenna sobbed and sobbed for about an hour. It reminded me of many tears of my own as a kid/teenager, sitting in an airplane, leaving the Chicago airport and knowing I probably wouldn't see grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins again for 3-4 years.

Dawn asked me this morning if I was doing ok with saying good-bye - I told her that after 41 years of many, many hard and difficult good-byes, I suppose your heart becomes a little calloused.  I remember my Grandma Stone saying that when we would leave, after visiting 3 weeks every 3-4 years, she would mop the floor or vacuum, just keeping her hands busy so that her heart would be distracted for a while.

There will probably be many, many more difficult good-byes to come as the kids are getting older

and more independent. I was thinking last night about how wonderful it will be, one day, to never have to say good-bye again! But until then we keep our hearts and hands busy with what the Lord has given us to do. In our case it's back to work at Timberline, doctor's appointments for the kids, swim meets and sports camp at church.

Prayer requests:

- Please continue to pray for our staff and that all of us would have the time to truly prepare our hearts for a new Bible School year after a busy summer guest season.  My prayer has been that the Lord would give each of us a clear vision for this coming year and would refresh our hearts and minds for service!

- We are preparing for a trip at the beginning of August to Saddleback Church in California where six of us from Winter Park Christian Church will be attending a Celebrate Recovery Training seminar.  Reid will be a part of spear-heading Celebrate Recovery in Grand County (I will be helping out as I can) and is really thankful for this opportunity to become more involved in addiction recovery ministry.
My sister Julie is flying out to stay with our kids (minus Lillian who is coming with us) during this time. Please pray for her sanity! :) It's also a busy time of preparing for a new school year for the kids as well as a new Bible School year at Timberline. The other day I felt a little overwhelmed at all that needs to be done in the next few weeks. So I want to keep first things first, eyes on Jesus and resting in Him.

- We need wisdom for one of our kiddos in particular for this upcoming school year as there are certain classes that are going to be very difficult for them. Both of our older two are entering a challenging transitional year into High School and Middle School (in the classical model these are also transitional in how they will be learning and the amount of responsibility they carry). We're praying they (and we as parents) can be patient during this adjustment!

- For hurting little hearts today in our family, saying good-bye to loved ones!